Lost in Insertion
by Lone Demon
Summary: One young fellow named Michael is given the chance to show that he could have done better than one of the Ranma-cast. But will he be able to deal with the problem of being ... Ryoga?! And what will happen to the new Ryoga in the land of China?
1. Prologue - Nanto desu kon?

It was a pretty dark room but there was still enough light to recognize a pretty weird guy sitting in a chair and reading some kind of book that was placed on his lap. Strange enough, he didn't seem to have any problems at his activity even without any light-sources on the room.  
  
"What the hell?!" The strange creature cursed aloud, staring angrily at the book.  
  
"Why can't you simply beat him! You're much stronger, damnit!" cursed the guy again with an even angrier look on his face.  
  
"Feh. You couldn't do any better yourself!" shouted a deep voice suddenly in the head of the pissed-off reader.  
  
"Huh? Who?" muttered the creature known to the world as Michael under his breath.  
  
"Not good at guessing? I'm pretty sure you know my voice …"  
  
Michael was at the brink of believing that he had finally stepped over the last line of sanity but recovered quickly. He thought over the situation for a few seconds, blinked and asked aloud into the emptiness of the room: "You?"  
  
The voice chuckled slightly. "So, you really think you could do a better job, eh?"  
  
"With your power? Sure!" yelled the youth while jumping right from his seat into an upright stance.  
  
"Prove it, then!" cried the voice right into the chaotic realms of Michael's mind.  
  
The 17 year-old started to curse again but suddenly stopped as the complete darkness around him turned into an even more complete darkness …  
  
  
  
= = = = = = =  
  
1 Lost in Insertion  
  
Prologue - Nanto desu kon?  
  
A Carrot-Style Ranma Fanfiction by Lone Demon  
  
Credit to: Takahashi-sama, holder of the copyright und rightful goddess of the Ranma-Universe  
  
Carrot, god of a damn great number of parallel-universes  
  
And: Black Lotos, Kev, Jumpdevil, Marc_Soul, Javanoth and all the others I didn't mention here but surely know that I thank them from the bottom of my heart.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma and all other characters taken from the series Ranma ½ belong to Rumiko Takahashi and/or Viz. I don't make no money with this fic … but I actually  
  
wouldn't mind of some idio … er, really great guy would donate me some dollars.  
  
  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"Here, sirs, welcome to the famous Training Ground of Cursed Springs. Jusenkyo!"  
  
"Are you prepared, Ranma?" asked the voice clearly belonging to Genma Saotome.  
  
"Yeah, this place isn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be." Muttered the boy standing next to him while placing his backpack on the ground.  
  
"Follow me, Ranma!" cried the rather old-looking man dressed in a Japanese gi.  
  
"Okay!" answered the soft voice belonging to the boy who stood now right before the one commonly known and feared as "The Jusenkyo Guide".  
  
"Oh, sirs! Very bad you fall in spring …!" shouted the man desperately but he already knew that they would not listen to his warnings.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"Oh, sir! You fall in Shonmaoneechuan - Spring of Drowned Panda! Here in Jusenkyo is old, very old legend of panda drown in spring over 2000 years ago! Now whoever fall in that one take body of panda! Is very cursed spring."  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"No, sir! Not Naniichuan!" cried the guide and continued only a few seconds later "You fall in Spring of Drowned Girl! Is tragic, very tragic legend of girl who drown in spring over 1200 years ago! Now everyone who fall in spring take body of young girl!"  
  
= = = = =  
  
"Where the hell am I now?" asked a deep voice loudly – a boy at the age of sixteen stood on a cliff's edge and looked down into the fog wondering if that accursed Saotome was somewhere around there. He sighed heavily, as –  
  
"Wait up, y'old fool!!!"  
  
Ryoga struggled shortly but quickly recovered from the shock that the sudden appearance of the voice had created in him. With a small gasp of surprise he turned around only to witness some kind of … bear? No… some kind of panda jumping from cliff to cliff. As the distance between the boy and the gigantic shape of the animal became less and less, Ryoga decided that he'd simply jump into mid-air to dodge the panda. That strange animal hadn't noticed him … so why should he counter-attack it?  
  
But then the owner of the voice from before appeared out of nowhere – it was a girl with red hear dressed in a gi and from the sound of her voice she seemed to be pretty pissed-off – and knocked Ryoga in a mindless attempt to follow that panda right into the gut and brought the poor boy off -balance.  
  
Immediately he tried to regain some ground under his feet by turning around in the air with the intention of getting a hold on the stone and then re- balancing on his feet - but when he touched it again, his hands slipped and he fell down …  
  
His body was swallowed by the fog and would soon follow his already known fate …  
  
  
  
= = = = = =  
  
So, that was the prologue to my insertion-fic! I hope you enjoyed it … I should also mention that it's my first attempt in writing an English fic 'cause my native tongue is German …  
  
Well, it's guessing time! Who will the poor Michael be "inserted in"? Ranma? Genma? Ryoga? Or even … the Jusenkyo Guide?  
  
Find out the next time on Dragonba … er … I mean … Lost in Insertion. 


	2. Chapter 1 - Of Curses ...

Ryoga flipped around in the air and reached out with his right hand. Slowly, his palm touched the stony ground but his spread fingers weren't able to get a hold on the slippery rocks and due to the inertia of his body his hand slid off the edge. With a cry of frustration the man finally started to fall freely from the cliff and was swallowed by the fog that surrounds the whole cursed area of Jusenkyo.  
  
And all that happened in less than one second …  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Lost in Insertion  
  
Chapter One – Of Curses …  
  
A Fanfic by Lone Demon  
  
Special thanks to: Everyone who reviews this  
  
Oh, and my new beta-reader! Final-Fan! (Hey, at least some applause would be appropriate! Come on, guys!)  
  
Disclaimer: The Usual Suspects don't belong to me but some other people with their names  
  
lost in history.  
  
  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Part 1 – Changes  
  
Slowly the giant turtle Great-A-Tuin drifted through space and time with a destination only it knew. (Great-A-Tuin is referred as "it" – many scientist and magicians are on the topic but no one has been able to figure its gender out yet) It slowly turned its head to the right for it had the strange impression of hearing a sound from very far away … the sound reminded the giant turtle of something but it couldn't exactly place the thought.  
  
"Bwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"  
  
Great-A-Tuin could feel that the source was slowly approaching but its eyes still were not good enough to make out the incredibly small humanoid shape which was located some thousand miles away but thanks to the unique laws of physics of this universe the cry was still easily understandable.  
  
The giant turtle blinked as the small creature crossed its path only a few meters away from its head and … stopped. The result of this was chaos on the disk which was carried by four elephants who were, of course, carried on the back of Great-A-Tuin.  
  
"Wazzat?"  
  
"Buy some sausages! Enjoy Dibbler's sausages one last time before the disk falls apart!"  
  
Rincewind simply ran for it.  
  
The tiny spot which was on its unstoppable way right through the continuum of the discworld™ began to shriek even louder as its speed still increased. The strange sparkles which started to form around it were below its notice … their colour was somehow unusual, if it would exist in our universe it would probably be called octarine.  
  
These sparkles began to multiply with every second and slowly formed some kind of shield over that spot, which, as one might already have guessed, was Michael.  
  
It seemed to emerge from the bare skin of the youth and gently wrapped itself around his body much like a shelter. The fact that the boy was naked shouldn't really be important to anyone since except for Great-A-Tuin no one was able to view the spectacle.  
  
All of a sudden the octarine light started to glow more and more intensely and seemed to consume the shape of the boy completely.  
  
Slowly the strings of reality were torn apart and the light vanished with an awkward sound that somehow resembled the flushing of a toilet…  
  
= = = = = =  
  
A loud scream echoed throughout the whole area of Jusenkyo, as the one known by some as The Eternal Lost Boy sailed directly in the direction of the "Heitonnichuan" – the Spring of Drowned Black Piglet …  
  
A loud scream echoed throughout the whole space and time continuum as the one known by the name of Michael sailed directly in the direction of the universe that had created some of the weirdest creatures that ever existed …  
  
= = = = = = =  
  
A cold sensation tickled on Ryoga's skin as he was suddenly surrounded by water. In a desperate attempt to fill his lungs with fresh air he opened his mouth and was promptly rewarded with a mouthful of water. His reaction was panic – he struggled and gulped down even more water but wasn't able to get any closer to the surface.  
  
His eyes widened as he felt something … strange.  
  
The cold feeling of the water seemed to vanish, only to be replaced by something completely … different.  
  
The struggling grew even more intense as Ryoga's body started to change …  
  
= = = = = =  
  
China, the Mt. Quanjin region, Bayankala Range, Qinghai Province. The legendary cursed training-grounds of Jusenkyo, setting of a great number of tragic, very tragic legends, witness of hundreds of tragic deaths.  
  
It is still a mystery to society how the springs of Jusenkyo turn every thing that falls into one of them into the creature which had drowned in it before. And this isn't the only strange thing about Jusenkyo – the magical springs here seem to somehow raise the possibility of drowning in them for the rate of drowning in the Qinghai Province is higher than anywhere else in the world. Due to this, the spectrum of Jusenkyo-curses is widespread. There are springs of drowned lemmings, and butterflies; there even is a Spring of Drowned Fanfic-Author!  
  
Lo, the amazing power of Jusenkyo! Behold the magical effects of the springs striking fear in the human hearts!  
  
  
  
= = = = = =  
  
The deceptive peace of the springs was only disturbed by the sudden, shrill squeaking that came from one of the outer springs.  
  
At first, there were only small bubbles on the water's surface but soon the small shape of an animal appeared right behind them. It was a tiny, black pig – no, more a piglet. It seemed to have lost consciousness and, due to one of the unspoken rules of story writing, was slowly advancing towards the edge of the pool …  
  
Genma Saotome, currently in his cursed form of the panda, looked at the small black thing that was lying directly beneath one of the springs and quickly decided that he should save this small, poor thing from dying out there. It would surely feel much better knowing that it would serve the purpose of feeding a proud, righteous martial artist instead of simply dying out in the wilderness; thus the panda took the black piglet and walked happily humming to himself back to the small house of the Jusenkyo Guide – perhaps they could cook it there. If a panda would be capable of smirking, Genma would do it now – his son was away for a short time and so he would have the pleasure of having the animal all for himself.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
As Genma finally arrived at the small house, he quickly entered and showed his precious find to the guide who was at the moment sitting at a wooden table – he looked up at his honoured guest and immediately noticed Genma's prey.  
  
"Oh, sir! That one delicious piglet you find," he slowly leapt up while saying this, "Good, good. I make Cantonese sweet 'n' sour pork for you!"  
  
The poor piglet still hadn't regained consciousness and perhaps it was best this way.  
  
The guide whetted his meat chopper quickly while chatting with his cursed guest: "Here in Jusenkyo there spring called "Eitonnichuan"." He turned around a second to take a glimpse at the panda who was igniting the fire in the small brick-kiln. A smile formed on his lips as he raised his head a little – the pig had been tied up above the oven … he looked again at his chopper and continued his talk: "Black piglet once tragically drown there 1200 years ago! Now whatever fall in cursed spring take body of black piglet!"  
  
Suddenly the subject of his talking appeared in his right hand and the guide examined the small animal with the yellow bandana around his neck once more. "Maybe this one human what fall "Eitonnichuan", no?"  
  
Genma looked at him with a sudden surprise. Could it be that the guide was implying something?  
  
As the Chinese man started to laugh Genma quickly threw that thought away. "You hear? I make joke!"  
  
Both – the man and the panda – laughed, or made the equivalent of laughter in Genma's case as the guide held his victim above the oven and … let the piglet fall down into the boiling water.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Part 2 – Awakening  
  
"…"  
  
Ryoga slowly opened his eyes "… where am I?" he muttered softly brushing the hair hanging over his eyes away in a fluent move of his fingers. He paused.  
  
"Black?"  
  
His eyes widened.  
  
"Since when is my hair black?" he stammered, looking at the strands of hair.  
  
"Aiya! You is awake!" shouted someone happily, but Ryoga was able neither to spot the speaker nor to recognize the voice. But … that had been neither German nor English. But he had understood it? What the hell was happening here?  
  
  
  
The face of a middle aged Asian appeared before him – most likely he was Chinese, but Ryoga couldn't really tell the difference to other people like Japanese or Thai just by looking. But … the green cap with the communism- symbol on it together with the corpulent appearance of the face somehow awakened memories in him.  
  
"G … guide?" he muttered softly – he wasn't able to talk much louder than that at the moment because of the terrible headache that was nearly driving him crazy.  
  
"That right. I am Jusenkyo-Guide. Guardian of legendary, cursed springs." The man agreed … and while he talked Ryoga finally recognized the language – it was Japanese, or rather a cruel approximation of that language.  
  
He wanted to talk, but wasn't really sure if the Chinese man would understand his English. His eyes focused on the guide as he finally began to speak:  
  
"Ore wa-" he stopped immediately. What the hell had he just said? Japanese words. Had he really talked – and understood – Japanese?! Kind of strange but … nevertheless pretty neat. He always had wanted to learn that language.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Author's Note:  
  
From now on the standard language is Japanese, so it won't be mentioned again unless someone is using another language and then switching back.  
  
Also, I'll use the original Japanese voices for known characters – so please don't ask why I describe e.g. Ryoga's voice as deep.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"I am … " he continued again but stopped as he felt the terrible soreness in his mouth and instead asked for water.  
  
"I go get some." Replied the man and left for the kitchen.  
  
As the guide left Ryoga sat up.  
  
"Let's see …" he summarized in his head, "I can speak Japanese, I have black hair and had a talk with the … hey, wait a sec'. That's not possible. How the hell can I talk with a manga-figure?"  
  
He touched his forehead in confusion but immediately pulled his hand away as a sudden pain flooded through his skin. He gave a small gasp of surprise as he gazed on his hand, which, to his terror, was full of blisters and pretty reddened. Slowly a terrible suspicion grew in his mind …  
  
"Me back, honoured guest!"  
  
The Jusenkyo Guide appeared again in the doorframe with two bowls in his hands: the first was filled with water; the other one was full of steaming rice.  
  
With a thankful nod Ryoga accepted the bowls and took a sip of the water.  
  
"What had happened?" he wondered.  
  
"You fall in Spring of Drowned Piglet, sir! Everyone who fall in spring take body of black piglet," the guide explained, "but no need worry, curse is reversed when hit with hot water … but … if hit with cold water turn piglet again."  
  
The Lost Boy rolled with his eyes and sourly commented to himself: "Great. A Jusenkyo curse… " He seemed to collect a few thoughts before continuing. "PIGLET???" he finally asked aloud and Ryoga was even more shocked as he looked in the direction of the water-bowl only to see his own image in there. And … that wasn't really the image he would be expecting normally.  
  
"I … remember now." He said in a sunken, monotonous voice. He turned his gaze towards the guide, then.  
  
"Why am I burned all over? Did you try to cook me or something?!" he asked with a slight hint of anger in his voice.  
  
The guide swallowed bitterly. "Yes, honoured guest." He answered while sinking his head in shame.  
  
Ryoga's hand clutched angrily at the blanket underneath him; the guide trembled in fear of his possibly enraged guest.  
  
"Well, how long have I been asleep?" Ryoga suddenly continued, without any aggressive behaviour or even anger in his voice.  
  
"You here since five days ago, I already wondering why staying unconscious so long."  
  
"I see." the boy answered and turned his attention to the bowl full of rice – no wonder he had had that urge of taking that rice and gulping it down within 5 seconds all along.  
  
"If want more, just tell. I have plenty." the guide offered hesitantly while watching the boy hoovering down the food. Actually, he already had regrets for making that offer.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Well, that was the first chapter … beware – in the next one Ryoga will have to face the dangers of life in China! And the first fight! Ryoga versus the mighty Amazon!  
  
Oh, and did I already mention that he is going to have some serious identity problems? No? BWAHAHAHAHA!  
  
Next time:  
  
Chapter 2: One Body – One Mind? 


	3. Chapter 2 - One Body, one Mind?

"Well, this mad police-officer drew his sword and started to launch attacks at me but I dodged them all and finally drew my own katana. You remember? The one with the reversed blade? Alright, as I was about to counter-attack that girl hit me from behind because she wanted us to stop – so, the only thing I was able to say was –"  
  
"Oro?" suggested the small girl who was sitting in front of the narrator.  
  
"Hey, how did you know?!"  
  
The girl smiled happily. "You say that all the time, uncle Ryoga."  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Lost in Insertion  
  
A Ranma ½ Fanfiction by Lone Demon  
  
Chapter 2 – One body, one mind?  
  
Disclaimer:  
  
I won't mention that in the further chapters – from now on all characters from Ranma ½ and other characters that are referred to or make short guest appearances belong to their authors. (which in most cases would be Rumiko Takahashi) – I make neither money with this story  
  
nor do I proclaim these characters to be mine.  
  
Thanks to:  
  
Final-Fan for Beta-Reading  
  
and  
  
Matt aka Shirou for the same thing  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"Papa! Papa!"  
  
"Yes, Plum?" sighed the Jusenkyo Guide. Out of a sheer coincidence his daughter had just appeared on the same day that his strange guest had awakened. Every time she visited her father's workplace the guide had absolutely no time for himself, she was questioning him all the time about the springs. It was pretty annoying but somehow he was at the same time proud of her. However, her interest also was dangerous – he had to rip out the register's page with the location of the Spring of Drowned Cat because she desperately wanted a cat and, low-paid as the guide was, he couldn't afford one. So, the most logical answer – at least for Plum – was to use the springs. But … that would be abusing their knowledge of the springs; no one should ever use a curse for a thing like that. And there was always the danger that she could fall into one of the springs by accident herself.  
  
"Mister Ryoga has fallen asleep again," she explained, sounding a little disappointed.  
  
"Well, you should also go to sleep – you were up all day."  
  
Plum nodded and left without any protest. The guide smiled wearily – she was a good girl.  
  
Ryoga lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Plum was really nice, not like those brats from his home  
  
Home? Where was his home?  
  
"Far … far away …" he sighed, closing his eyes and trying to recall his former life. Pictures of people appeared in his mind. Names. Places. Friends and … enemies? No, not enemies. Just some pretty annoying people.  
  
But even as Ryoga remembered these things they seemed so distant. Like a dream. As if none of it had been real.  
  
"But …" Ryoga's eyes opened again and he looked sadly at his hands. "… what if it wasn't? My memories …" he closed his hands to fists and opened them again " ... seem so vague. I can remember if I want to … but it doesn't feel as if it was real."  
  
He tucked up his legs and stared into the bowl of water next to his bed.  
  
"Who am I?"  
  
Desperately the boy clutched at his head and fell back in a lying position.  
  
"Hate it …" he sighed and finally fell asleep.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
A raindrop fell to the ground and the ground turned into water.  
  
A wave slowly crept along the surface and grew with every second. It vanished and left the naked body of Michael who was staring into nothingness.  
  
"Where am I?" he asked but didn't move his lips. Instead of his own phrase he heard something different: A deep voice shouted in frustration "Where the hell am I now?!"  
  
He blinked. That wasn't his voice. Those weren't his words.  
  
The boy looked at himself. He wasn't Michael. He was Ryoga.  
  
As Michael realized this, small bubbles started to appear on the water's surface a few meters away from him. Slowly, a small animal rose out of the water and fixed its gaze on Michael. It was a small, black piglet.  
  
"Help." Michael pleaded, desperately trying to reach the pig – but he wasn't able to move.  
  
His tongue repeated the word over and over and … the animal started to change.  
  
With every time Michael said the word the piglet gained more and more human features and grew up to a human shape.  
  
It was Michael himself. The changed one gazed at the other Michael with hate gleaming in his eyes. "You abandoned me." He hissed and turned his head away in disgust - only to look back at him again. With the face of Ryoga.  
  
"You stole my body," he screamed in pure rage, "I'll kill you!"  
  
The Lost Boy ran towards Michael with his fist ready to deliver the lethal punch.  
  
A scream of fear erupted from Michael's throat. The punch was about to connect as ... Michael opened his eyes in terror.  
  
"You is okay?" asked the concerned voice of the guide who was leaning over him and gave him a confused look.  
  
"I had a nightmare …"  
  
"Oh," The Jusenkyo-Guide stated, "Did someone kill you?"  
  
"No … but someone tried do."  
  
The Guide suddenly lowered his face right in front of Ryoga's and narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Then …" The shape of the guide suddenly shattered away and gave way to the body of Ryoga who was completely berserk. "I'll finish it!" he screamed madly, as his fist closed and he punched right between his lying image's eyes.  
  
"You is okay?" asked the Chinese with a concerned look on his face.  
  
"Gah!! Get away from me!!"  
  
The surprised guide flinched away quickly and started to wave around madly with his hands to get the attention of the boy who had just erupted in screams. "No, no – it me! No need be afraid!" he shouted in an attempt to calm Ryoga down; the man had already noticed how incredibly strong his guest was and was pretty sure that if that boy attacked him he would be severely injured.  
  
The guide relaxed a little as he saw that Ryoga wasn't struggling around like a madman anymore but instead he sat upright in the bed and gazed at the wooden wall with shock-widened eyes.  
  
The Chinese backed away again as the boy started to tremble. "H-honoured guest?" he stammered in terror.  
  
Pain. Unbelievable, stinging pain. At first it was nothing more than a mere buzzing in his head but soon, with every second, it grew more and more intense crushing every thought that started to form in his mind before it even existed, wiping out everything but itself.  
  
Ryoga clutched at his head. The blood-vessels on his forehead became visible as the pain grew even more; his blood was being pumped into his brain like crazy – whatever the cause was it multiplied the already unbearable pain a tenfold.  
  
The following screams echoed through the whole area of the cursed springs.  
  
Plum was shocked out of her sleep and slowly opened her small mouth, asking: "F-father?"  
  
In the meanwhile the aforesaid father did the right thing to finally stop his guest – he took a nearby standing chair and smacked it at the hysterical boy's head.  
  
Finally there was silence.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
A dark room. Not even a single trail of light was to be found in that chamber and still one noticed the being that was standing right in the middle of this room. It was wrapped in a coat that seemed of an even more intense dark than the room around it – which actually shouldn't have been possible since nothing can be more dark than absolute dark. Well, perhaps this coat wasn't normal. No, not perhaps – the coat wasn't normal. Neither was the man wearing it.  
  
"The transfer caused some trouble." his deep voice stated, while except the movement of his lips nothing else in the stance of the figure changed – not the slightest muscle was moving.  
  
For a moment there was silence, then he continued.  
  
"He will live up to our expectations. For now I will personally take charge of the matter – he will be observed."  
  
Again he waited for the non-existent answer.  
  
"Indeed." he agreed and then vanished completely in the darkness.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"Well, son – it is time that you learn to appreciate the great hospitality that a common man has to give to honourable martial artists like us!" Genma explained while he and his son continued to climb up the bare and rugged surface of Mount Pu'ar.  
  
"Damn you, pop! You only take advantage of other people!" Ranma muttered under his breath as he reached out to another rift and pulled himself upwards.  
  
Suddenly a raindrop fell on his nose; as others followed his body instantly reacted and the curse activated itself. The now-female Ranma sighed heavily as she wrapped her hand around another outstanding rock. (described rather quick, don't ya think?)  
  
"Oh, shit." she stated as she heard the animalistic scream.  
  
She look down immediately – just in time to see the gigantic shape of a panda slowly turning into a small spot and, finally, disappearing.  
  
With a sigh Ranma shrugged mentally and decided that he would simply climb to the top and wait for the old man.  
  
When Genma finally recovered he chose to wait until his boy would be back at the ground again – then they would simply walk around that stupid mountain.  
  
= = = = = = =  
  
Once again Ryoga woke up on the room that had been turned into a small guestroom by the guide. His head was aching but at least it was better than the last night for the only thing that caused this headache was the hard object the guide had been using to hit him.  
  
With a groan of pain he slowly opened his eyes and stretched his arms and legs a little.  
  
"What was that last night about?" he wondered sourly while he rubbed at his head.  
  
"Better get some water … I guess that the guide will be rather pissed at me for keeping him awake.."  
  
Ryoga hesitated for a second: "I wonder if he actually has a name … he never told me anything except that he is the Jusenkyo Guide – I'll ask him later .. "  
  
"What you going ask, uncle Ryoga?"  
  
"Huh?" The boy turned around only to face the small girl known as Plum who was looking at him with a curious expression on her face.  
  
"What you ask father?" she repeated again sounding a little annoyed.  
  
"Er … well, I just wondered what his name could possibly be."  
  
"You want Plum tell you?" she suggested with a cheer on her face.  
  
"Well, go for it."  
  
"His name father." Plum explained while nodding in an important-looking manner.  
  
The Lost Boy let out a heavy sigh. "Gee, thanks, Plum. Where is he?"  
  
"He checking unsigned springs," explained the girl, "he hate that but afraid you angry."  
  
"Angry?" Ryoga chuckled slightly. "I should thank him. In which directions are these springs?"  
  
After thinking for a moment Plum answered: "East of area."  
  
"Right."  
  
The boy headed for the door and stepped out of the house looking at his surroundings briefly.  
  
The wide landscape of Jusenkyo reached far into the horizon – the trays of sunlight divided the fog which seemed to cover the whole area. The air had that ancient scent that is only found in old, legendary placed like for example the tombs of pharaohs or old caves full of pre-historical drawings. The air of Jusenkyo was filled with magic indeed –the springs, like every source of water, gave off small portions of steam. Any visitor to this area was lucky that this magic wasn't strong enough to affect people on a dramatic way – some lucky fellows like the Jusenkyo Guide even had a much healthier and longer life due to this intermixture…  
  
Ryoga hesitated.  
  
"Uh. Which direction was East again?"  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Five minutes later …  
  
  
  
"Okay. The moss grows at … south? West? Ah, never mind .. I don't think it's the same in China as in Europe anyway."  
  
Somehow he had to figure out where this damn direction could be – he couldn't ask Plum since that would be some kind of embarrassing. She thought of him as a … well … hero.  
  
Then … the enlightenment came. The sun! Yes, that would be the best possibility to identify the different directions.  
  
"Let's see … I've just woken up so it should be pretty early – I'll just follow the sun. "  
  
A broad grin appeared on his lips – yes, he was famous for his incredible sense of directions – there was no place he couldn't find. With a maniac laughter escaping from his throat he started to walk.  
  
Plum watched him silently from one of the windows und wondered briefly if she should have told him that it was already afternoon. Well, he would notice it soon enough.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
"Damn it, son – how should I have known that you'd wait for me on the top?!"  
  
"You could have used your brain once!" Ranma cursed and splashed the water bucket Genma had prepared for cooking at his enraged father. "Why the hell should I climb down again only to start again from the beginning!?" he continued to scream at the large panda who was now standing in front of him.  
  
"Show some respect to your elders!" a sigh that had suddenly appeared in Genma's claw said.  
  
"If you were respectable, I'd love to do it!" said another sign that was swung at the animal and, with a loud smacking sound, hit it.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Ryoga was sauntering along a narrow path for some time now and, now and then, called aloud for the guide.  
  
His throat was dry and his tongue started to sting – with a sigh he knelt down beside one of the various springs and extended his hands towards the water.  
  
His fingers almost touched the wet surface and he could already feel the glittering wetness running down his throat, feeling the incredible coolne-  
  
"NO, SIR! NOT TOUCH SPRING!" a hysterical voice proclaimed in panic from far away.  
  
Immediately the boy pulled back staring at the water in horror as he realized what he actually was about to have done.  
  
"That Naniichuan," the rapidly approaching guide explained, "Spring of Drowned Girl."  
  
Ryoga was back on his feet in a fluent movement … "Wouldn't that be better than a pig?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
"Unless like female pigs better, no."  
  
"Oh … in that case," the boy said dumbly, "I'll better stay away from there."  
  
"You very strange one, no? Why you went crazy night before?" The guide panted while talking, the sprint from before must had been pretty exhausting for the middle-aged man.  
  
"Uh … I don't know. I just wanted to thank you for knocking me out soon enough – I could've hurt someone." the boy said with a slight hint of guilt in his voice.  
  
The guide laughed nervously and nodded. He wasn't regretting it – the first person who would have been hurt would surely have been him. The negative aspect about his action was that he couldn't get any sleep for the rest of the night due to the fear that was slowly building up within him. He wasn't afraid that he could have hurt his guest – no, he was afraid that a very angry guest of his would go for his head the next morning.  
  
He had watched Ryoga from afar curious if he should reveal himself to him but had decided against it – at least until the boy had tried to get himself even more cursed.  
  
"Er- Mr. Guide?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"You shouldn't trip around like that – you just were about to step in that Spring of Drowned Ant-Hill."  
  
"Aiyaaaaa!" the guide screamed and backed away from there as fast as he could but at the attempt of doing this he almost tumbled right into the Naniichuan.  
  
With a sigh the Lost Boy simply grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back to the wooden house at the area's centre.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
When they arrived Ryoga shut the door and finally let go of the guide.  
  
Plum's head appeared through the small kitchen's doorframe and the girl immediately noticed that her new friend had brought someone very special to her.  
  
"You found father!" she cheered while rushing at them and desperately trying to hug them both at once.  
  
A soft smile appeared on Ryoga's lips – it had been rather long since someone had treated him that way.  
  
Well, even though it was nice and all he couldn't stay here much longer – he had to leave for Japan. His home in Nerima was awaiting.  
  
"His home?" he thought a little amused. "Not really."  
  
Strange how quickly he had adapted to the whole new situation. It almost felt like he never had been someone else than Ryoga. He hadn't even bothered examining his new body. Well, besides that Plum would gave him some strange looks when he would have started to jump around like crazy and … well … in that house were no mirrors. He'd have plenty of time to do these things when he had been able to make it to Nerima.  
  
"You dreaming?" interrupted Plum.  
  
The boy quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her with a confused smile.  
  
"Would you, er, make us some Oolong-tea, Plum?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
…  
  
Before the rather small, wooden and surely hand-built (probably by the guide himself) hut there was a diminutive garden full of little herb- plants. Its owner was growing many sorts of Chinese teas there like the Oolong tea Ryoga had requested before. But those herbs weren't the only plants in the garden – various spices and some herbs that were actually poisonous but surely had some kind of use also had their place in this small orchard.  
  
Right next to the garden a water-pump was situated. A thick tube was leading from it to one of the extremely rare, un-cursed springs of Jusenkyo. To prevent himself and others from the enormous danger of drowning there and together with that cursing it automatically the Chinese had built an iron cage around it. To tell the truth, this spring was the reason for constructing the small house there.  
  
In the centre of that small area stood a table surrounded by two stools.  
  
Both were occupied – one by Ryoga, the other by his host.  
  
"You want to leave. Is right?" the guide asked while he took a sip of the tea Plum had prepared.  
  
"Indeed." he answered chuckling slightly to himself: Oh, how he loved that word. "I must." I have to find the one who had thrown me into that spring."  
  
"Ah, I understand. Revenge, no?"  
  
"Something like that." An evil smile started to form as he thought of the Saotomes. Heh, he'll show them.  
  
All of a sudden the eternal lost boy got serious again. "I won't find the way by myself."  
  
The guide gulped. He had already taken the hint. A sigh escaped his lips as he mentally accepted his fate – there was still that thing about trying to cook the boy. He owed Ryoga.  
  
"You still owe me for trying to cook me." Ryoga continued as if he had guessed what the guide was thinking about. "You'll show me around."  
  
With a single nod the guide agreed. "Plum leave tomorrow. Return to home- village." He started to smile and his breath swelled a little. His voice had a faint sound of pride in it. "My wife lives there."  
  
"That's … nice." Ryoga replied hesitantly bringing the cup of tea to his lips.  
  
"Is right." The men's eyes went dreamy as he continued: "She very good wife."  
  
Both had finished their cups und stood up. They headed for the house.  
  
"I'll prepare my backpack till evening."  
  
= = = = = =  
  
Ryoga was sitting on his bed; he hadn't told the truth about the backpack – it needed no preparations. It never had been unpacked in the first place.  
  
But … now his interest had been wakened – he was curiously staring at the bag wondering what actually was in there.  
  
With he shrug he opened the thing. He had to unfasten some knots and meshes that were keeping it closed.  
  
The boy lifted the backpack into the air, turned it around and let the contents fall freely on the bed.  
  
"Ah, bandanas." Ryoga said full of joy, took one of them and immediately put it on.  
  
"Let's see .. " he continued looking through the things "Some food, a bottle of water … rope … a tent .. huh, bricks? What are those for?"  
  
With a shrug he threw them away – he would surely not carry them around. He wasn't THAT stupid.  
  
"An extra pair of clothes … heh, finally I ca get out of these stupid things."  
  
He looked down at himself – the guide had given him one of his older uniforms. Even though the man hadn't been as bulky as nowadays the clothes were pretty loose.  
  
Five minutes later he was wearing his own clothes.  
  
Since there was no mirror in reach – actually, there was no mirror in this house at all – Ryoga couldn't have a proper look on himself. But, alas, if he would have been able to see himself in a mirror he would have seen this:  
  
A rather large figure looked (not) back at Ryoga. The raven black hair that was adorning his head was kept in shape by a bandana of rather characteristic colour – a bright yellow that resembled the shade of his shirt but, unlike the shirt, it had a mustering of black squares that were holding together to present shaped that resembled the tokens of the infamous game "Tetris". Even with that bandana some strands of his hair were falling freely over his eyes adding an interesting shading to the boy's face.  
  
The face itself was slender and pretty symmetric. And, as a spectator on a street would say at night, could easily scare the hell out of one. At least if Ryoga would keep that serious, rather cold look on it. A strange thing, one might add, were the canine teeth. They were sharp and pretty long, not as long as vampires are said to have but still long. A smile would have crossed the lips of Ryoga had he actually seen himself like this – they gave him the air of a predator.  
  
His eyes were brown – neither light nor dark-brown but somewhere well between.  
  
As already mentioned, the shirt Ryoga was wearing had a yellow shade but it seemed like the collar had once been replaced with a slightly lighter fabric perhaps because the clothes had been torn up due to the enormous amount of travels. The same went for the sleeves, they both had that slightly lighter colouring. The shirt was reaching well down to the end of Ryoga's pelvic and was held by a leather-waist belt.  
  
His trousers had a dark-green colour and from the knee to the lower ends each of the two parts were kept tightly to Ryoga's skin underneath due to a thin string that was bound to them.  
  
IF Ryoga would have seen that he would probably smirk and say "I'm terribly handsome, am I not?" or something similarly stupid.  
  
Well, obviously he did not. So theorizing about that wasn't really all that productive.  
  
After putting on his clothes he went directly towards the kitchen where, after a quick search, he started hoovering down some food – well, that wasn't exactly true. He was hovering down a LOT of food. The guide wouldn't need it anyways since they would be leaving tomorrow.  
  
"Wow, I wonder how long he can keep that speed up." Plum, who was watching him, thought.  
  
She couldn't believe how hast her new friend was able to chew, gulp and take a new mouthful of food – it was really incredible. He could easily match to that girl and the panda who had been here for a short time in that aspect  
  
"How long are ya plannin' to watch me, Plum?" the unclear voice of an eating Ryoga asked. "Wanna have some too?"  
  
The small girl nodded and went to join her friend but wasn't really able to get much for herself since, most of the time, she was watching him in awe.  
  
After destroying all of the guide's stocks Ryoga patted his belly and gave a sigh of relief. "Man, Chinese food sure is great." He commented and washed the last remaining crumbs down his throat with some water.  
  
"So, you're leaving tomorrow, eh?" he asked after a short period of silence.  
  
"…" Plum said.  
  
"Hey, you awake?" Ryoga enquired.  
  
"Uhh … pardon."  
  
With a sigh he repeated his question: "You are leaving tomorrow?"  
  
"Hai. Mother say Jusenkyo very dangerous – must not stay longer till being grown-up."  
  
"She's right, you know?" the boy explained "You wouldn't want to get cursed like me."  
  
"You cursed?" she asked, looking a bit too excited.  
  
"Er … yes, I turn into a pig." Ryoga would have said if the girl in front of him wouldn't have splashed him with some water from her glass exactly at that moment.  
  
An instant later a very angry, very annoyed black piglet tried to kill her with his glare.  
  
"Oh, how cute!" she chirped and immediately tried to suffocate the pig with a terrible hugging-attack.  
  
However, she wasn't very successful since the animal quickly ran for it.  
  
= = = = = =  
  
The next day.  
  
Ryoga took a look at the wonderful scene, the sun was shining over the far landscape and the scene seemed almost too perfect.  
  
With a snort of disgust he put the picture away and faced the reality that was a heavy storm.  
  
"Damn, I guess I have to take that stupid bamboo-umbrella with me." He cursed and stood up from his sitting position and grabbed the be-said umbrella.  
  
Plum was waiting in front of the door with a small backpack and a raincoat.  
  
"You sure not want to wait?" the guide asked, immediately switching to Japanese as he saw his guest approaching.  
  
The girl shook her head. "No. Mother awaiting me."  
  
"As you wish, daughter." the guide agreed.  
  
Ryoga had leaned back on the wall and watched the girl silently. She would leave. He'll probably never see her again.  
  
With a sigh he pushed himself away – the boy had never been good at expressing his feelings openly. Well, he could say good-bye at least.  
  
A sad smile started to form on his lips as he walked towards father and daughter.  
  
"Sayonara, Plum-san." he said lifting his hand for a wave.  
  
Plum had left. Ryoga had expected that she would rush back one more time and hug her father at least but she didn't. Perhaps she hadn't wanted to make her father all-dirty or something like that.  
  
"We're leaving?" he asked the guide in a low voice while taking his backpack.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Ryoga nodded shortly and opened his umbrella.  
  
They stepped into the rain.  
  
  
  
= = = = = =  
  
An end and a beginning …  
  
Sorry, the announced amazons aren't there yet. They'll appear in the next chapter, I guess.  
  
Oh, and please do some reviews if you have read this. It helps me get more motivated and thus write more . and, possibly, faster too.  
  
Next time:  
  
A Trip through China and …a starters-guide to Amazon-law?! 


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